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A group of middle school students is getting a chance to use LEGOs in a whole new way through a program at Stevens Institute of Technology.

The 24 students are spending this week building robots with LEGOs in the Babbio Center as part of the WaterBotics program, which allows them to test how their creations operate in water.

The WaterBotics program was launched nationally after being a pilot program for high-school students in New Jersey schools from 2006 to 2009.

The program offered at Stevens is specifically tailored to excite middle school students about science and engineering, said Mercedes McKay, deputy director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens.

“This is different also than other robotics programs in that it isn’t just trial and error. There needs to be understanding of science and design in order to have success,” she said.

Instead of building their robots from kits, the 40 participating students design their creations on laptops using the LEGO Mindstorms program.

Many of the participants said they had never used the design program before this week.

“We just went with it,” said Kennedy Christiana, 10, of Bayonne. “I love LEGOs, but my team really had never used them in this way before.”

Che' Leonhardt, 12, of Hoboken, said his interest in the program grew out of his interest in working with gears and the design process.

“This has definitely got me interested in doing something like this in the future,” he said.